Posted on 08/31/2002 10:26:34 AM PDT by IamHD
I hear ya! By the way, I am looking at the floorplan of the Smart home (from the Newsweek mag.) and it appears that the kitchen is elevated...the main floor, but still elevated. Now it comes out that a chair was in front of the kitchen window??
This case puts the Ramsey case to shame.
(It's nice and peaceful here.)
A plane was flying over and I didn't hear the whole spiel.
Comment: This is this most ABSURD statement yet. What was Ricci going to do to anyone from maximum security in prison? They weren't even letting the poor b'tard shower every day.
Was thinking the same thing.
Also a $3,000 reward is paltry in such a large extended family. Almost like they don't really believe that Ricci did it.
When I first heard of the perfume, they said that it was an empty perfume bottle. How can one prove that a perfume bottle belonged to one specific person?
I have jewelry, too, but never where it. As you, I'm not into wearing jewelry...can think of better things to do with my money. :)
BY ASHLEY BROUGHTON and KEVIN CANTERA
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Richard Albert Ricci died Friday evening at University Hospital after family members made the decision to remove him from life support, hospital officials said.
Ricci, who had been in a deep coma since suffering a brain hemorrhage Tuesday night in his cell at the Utah State Prison, was taken off life support at 7:16 p.m. and died at 7:28. His wife, Angela, was by his side, as were Ricci's mother, brother and sister.
Ricci, 48, who police had at the top of the list of possible suspects in the June 5 disappearance of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart, had shown no brain activity Friday except initiating breathing on his own, hospital officials said.
A brain scan performed Thursday night showed Ricci's brain stem, including the area responsible for consciousness, was severely damaged from the brain hemorrhage, said neurologist Elaine Skalabrin.
Members of the Smart family, meanwhile, hope that information Ricci may have had regarding Elizabeth's whereabouts did not die with him.
"The family wants to express their condolences to Angela, she has been through so much," said Chris Thomas, Smart family spokesman. "As far as the investigation, [Ricci's death] might help. People who may have been involved can now step forward and tell all. There are still so many questions."
The family on Friday announced additional rewards for information in the case, including the identity of a person seen with Ricci three days after the abduction.
Although police had said Ricci never fully answered their questions, Ricci was never charged in connection with the kidnapping and he maintained his innocence. He had been in prison since June for alleged parole violations.
After Ricci was hospitalized in critical condition, Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse said that, if Ricci died, "that would be a big impact on the [Smart] case." He added, "There are questions about things that [Ricci] did . . . [his death] will have an impact on if we can ever clear him."
Angela Ricci released a statement shortly after her husband died. In it she said, "Although I know that Richard would not have wanted to be kept alive by artificial means, six months ago when we married, saying good-bye was unthinkable. Like other new brides I had planned a life with the man I loved. . . . I know that the world will never know the Richard that his family and I knew, but I will always remember him as a kind and gentle man who was a loving husband to me and a caring father to my son."
Ricci received an LDS blessing Friday evening before life support was removed, said spokeswoman Nancy Pomeroy. The blessing asked that "the will of the Lord be done." Angela Ricci is Mormon; her husband was raised in the Roman Catholic Church.
Doctors do not know what caused Ricci's hemorrhage, Skalabrin said, but it was not an aneurysm. Common causes include a small malformation in blood vessels or a weakening of blood vessels stemming from long-term high blood pressure.
No malformation was found in Ricci's case, Skalabrin said. While Ricci previously took blood-pressure medication, his blood pressure was normal when he received a physical exam upon entering the prison in June. Although staffers continued to monitor it, he was judged not to need medication, Ford said.
In addition, there would probably have been physical signs that Ricci's body was affected by years of high blood pressure, Skalabrin said, and he reported no such symptoms. An autopsy is planned.
The autopsy needs to be done somewhere else, outside of Utah.
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